


Love's Coils

by Venara



Category: XCOM (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Snakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-05-27 17:04:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15029192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venara/pseuds/Venara
Summary: A little story that came about as a few events that happened to my squad while playing X-Com 2. (Using the playable aliens mod)Kelly, X-Com's best ranger, finds herself in a relationship with X-Com's newly cloned Viper.





	1. Strange News, In a bit of a Bind, and Sparring with Fear

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the inconsistent upload frequency, college takes up most of my time these days so I barely have time to write.

“So, how was the mission Kelly?” Natalie asked as she fiddled with her psi focus, sitting on her bunk in the barracks. 

Kelly flinched when she saw the glow of psychic energy coming from the focus. “It went well enough, I’ll tell ya, make sure you request some of the new armor before you go out on a mission.” 

“Is it really that good?” Natalie asked as she put down the focus, having seen Kelly’s reaction to it. 

“It’s amazing, the stuff they assigned me has built in nano-med procedures. Anything less than a plasma shot basically isn’t an issue.” Kelly grabbed an MRE she’d stashed under her bunk and set it up to self cook, not wanting to go down the mess hall. “So, how are you doing with psychic training?” She asked slowly, almost cautiously, the hesitation evident in her voice.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, I know you’ve had bad experiences with the psychics you’ve encountered.” 

“No, I need to move past it if I’m gonna keep going on missions. So tell me, what are they even having you do?” 

Natalie reclined on her bunk, saying, “Well, today was something...weird.”

“So what? Isn’t all the psychic training a bit weird?” 

“No, there’s the normal, mind control this lab rat and try to walk through this wall. Then there’s seeing a big tube with a goddamned Viper in it in some kind of fluid and being told ‘Try to imprint your mind onto this creature so that we can use it for our own purposes.’ which is weird.” 

Kelly stopped in the middle of letting her ponytail down and just gawked at Natalie. “Nat, I need you to be serious now. Are you messing with me?”

“Not in the slightest. They told me to just imagine myself and project that mental image onto the viper,” said as Kelly stared at her over the now forgotten MRE.

Kelly slowly got the hair tie out of her half let down hair. “Did they explain why?” She asked, now tearing open the MRE packaging and digging in to the chicken alfredo with a plastic fork. 

“Did I just break your mind on accident? I told you, they said it was so we could use her for our own purposes.” 

“Her?” Kelly asked between bites. 

 

“Well the viper was naked in the tank and while I don’t know what genitals she had I can definitely say she had boobs.”

Now Kelly just blushed as she ate in silence. 

“I just wonder where they’ll house her,” Nat continued. “I mean, I can’t see putting a Viper, no matter how friendly, in with the crew. 

It was then that the ship’s announcement system came to life. On it was Central saying, “All non scientist crew report to the launch pad for an important announcement and briefing by The Commander. No crew are to bring weapons, I repeat, no crew are to bring weapons.”

“I wonder what that’s about,” Kelly said as she finished the MRE. 

“I’ll bet you it’s about the Viper,” Nat said, slowly getting to her feet and walking over to the door. 

On the Sky Ranger launchpad all the soldiers and Engineers were gathered, now Kelly saw why that location had been chosen, nowhere else would actually have been able to fit all the crew at once. Soon the crowd finished assembling and the last few soldiers filtered onto the launchpad the Commander, flanked by Chief engineer Shen and Dr. Tygan, stepped onto the improvised stage made of a table. 

When the small bits of chatter that were still going died out the commander picked up a microphone and spoke. “Attention crew, the reason I’ve called you all here is one of great importance. With the combined efforts of chief engineer Shen and Dr. Tygan we have accomplished something momentous. With the technology we’ve been able to create by researching Advent’s own systems, we are now able to clone certain Advent units for our own purposes.” 

When many of the soldiers reacted with shock, asking questions and shouting, Kelly herself almost joining in, the Commander turned up the volume on the microphone’s speakers and said loud enough to drown out any of the soldiers, “I understand that having Advent units on board the Avenger, but I assure you that they will not have the minds of Advent forces. Our psychic operatives have been imprinting the minds of our engineers and scientists onto them. As such they will have the minds of humans.” 

The Commander turned the volume back down and said, “While their alien appearance may be unnerving I expect all of you to treat these soldiers as part of the crew. Anyone who fails to do so will answer directly to me. If there are any questions please direct them to Dr. Tygan or Chief Engineer Shen, otherwise you are all dismissed,” and stepped off the stage to leave. 

While most of the crew walked off Kelly found herself with a question, one she felt was so insignificant she probably shouldn’t even ask it, and yet it kept gnawing at the back of her head and so she walked over to Shen who, when approached asked, “What can I help you with?”

Kelly frowned nervously and asked her question. “It seems small but I have to wonder, where will the Alie-...new troops, be living?” 

“Why does that matter, Kelly?” Natalie asked from behind the ranger, laughing when she jumped in surprise. “You scared of snakes or something?” 

Shen also chuckled, especially when she saw Kelly’s embarrassment at the question. “It’s nothing to be worried about,” She said, “Living situations are a legitimate concern. While the robotic units will have charging stations in the power relays the organic units will likely end up living with the crew to further social integration and cut costs on building new quarters.” 

Kelly tensed and her eyes went wide, suddenly nervous at the prospect of sharing a room with an alien soldier. Shen saw the concern she had and said, “Do you have any issues with this arrangement?” 

“I don’t.” Kelly abruptly said before walking off with Natalie following her. 

“You’re nervous, I get that, but don’t worry. They had me read her mind after the process was complete, she’s basically a normal person.”

“That still doesn’t make living with something that almost killed me any better.”

Natalie’s expression fell, she’d almost managed to forget the mission when Kelly had almost been crushed to death by a Viper. 

“Do you think you’ll be able to adjust?”

Kelly smiled a clearly forced smile. “I think I’ll be able to.” after a brief moment’s quiet she said, “Hell, by the time you finish psi training maybe you’ll just be able to just remove my fear.” 

Natalie laughed a little at that. “Maybe, but I’m nowhere near that level of precision yet.”

The two went back to their room talking and joking as if everything were almost back to normal.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next day Kelly woke up to see Natalie staring at a piece of paper and looking lost in thought. 

“You tryin to make that catch on fire with your mind or something?” Kelly asked as she rolled out of bed and put on her jumpsuit.  
“No, actually you’ll want to read it. Apparently we’re getting a new roommate.” 

Kelly took the note and read it over. A look of disbelief crossing over her features. 

“I can’t believe they’re assigning a Viper to our room!” She practically shouted, making Natalie jump in her chair and almost spill her cereal. 

“Would it help if I made you believe it?” Natalie jokingly asked as, with a little annoyance, she andwiped up the drops of milk that had splashed over the side of her bowl.

“Woah, no need to hex me or anything.” Kelly set the note down and headed for the bathroom. 

When she came back after a quick shower she opened the door to her and Natalie’s shared room and froze. 

“Oh, Kelly, you’re back, meet the newest addition to our force and our new roommate, Jane Emiko.” 

Kelly took a few stiff steps into the room, closing the door on the way in, but not taking her eyes off the Viper that sat at the table, tail coiled under her. Eyes wide she gave a small, nervous wave.

“Is something wrong?” Jane asked in a voice so quiet it was little more than a whisper. 

“Kelly's just a little shocked,” Natalie explained. Jane looked away, her expression seeming like one of sadness. Natalie shot a glance at Kelly as if tell her to say something. Kelly slowly walked over to the table and sat down, noticing the cards arrayed on it. 

“I'm sorry, Jane,” Kelly said, shaking her head and burying her face in her palm. “ I didn't mean anything by it, you just...scared me is all.”

Jane forced an awkward smile. “It's fine Kelly, the scientists told me about how there's be some awkwardness while the crew adjusted but I'm the one who insisted on living with everyone else.” 

Kelly looked back up at Jane. “Wait, this was your idea?” She asked, taking in the Viper's narrow pupils and Amber eye color. 

Jane smiled. “Well it was either deal with some awkwardness or live in a room I practically fill.” 

“I see,” Kelly said slowly. “Well then,” the Ranger trailed off, unsure of what to say. 

Jane smiled a little. “How about I deal you in and we can break the ice a little?” the Viper said, gesturing to the cards and the small bowls of M&Ms. “I’ll even pay your ante.” Jane set a small handful of the candy in front of Kelly and dealt her a hand of cards. 

Kelly picked up the cards, her feelings of awkwardness beginning to dissipate now that something familiar was happening. With a sarcastic smile she joked, “Great, now I can play with someone who’s expressions I can’t read and the person who can read minds,” as she added a few M&Ms to her bet.

As the game carried on Kelly asked, “Hey Jane, can you even eat these?” as she bet another small pile of candy.

“Actually,” Natalie chimed in, “how can you talk too, I’ve never heard an Advent Viper say anything that wasn’t a hiss.”

Jane’s reply followed a sigh as she looked at her hand. “I can eat anything a normal human can, the scientists said they made many modifications on Advent’s design. They were also sure to include human vocal cords and,” Jane’s explanation faltered, “other things I forget the name of. Sorry to disappoint but I was more concerned with learning how to slither. It’s rather difficult when you expect to have legs and turn out to have a tail.” 

The poker game continued on until Kelly and Natalie were called in for target practice to get used to the new mag weapons, leaving Jane to herself in the room. When they came back from practice Kelly slid open the door, freezing in the doorway for the second time that day, this time however that meant that Natalie bumped right into her back. 

“Kelly c’mon, you’ve gotta stop this.” 

The Ranger hurriedly stepped into the room, pulled Natalie after her and shut the door with a little more force than she meant to. 

“Kelly what’s this abo-” Natalie’s question was cut off by Kelly wordlessly gesturing to Jane, who was sleeping naked and uncovered on an unclaimed bunk. Kelly held a finger to her lips, looking at Natalie as an look of confusion took hold of her features. 

“What do we do? Should we just leave for a while?” She whispered hoping that Natalie wasn’t as panicked by this as she was. 

“Well obviously,” The psychic whispered back, leading Kelly back out of their room. 

Once they were back out in the hallway Kelly felt her friend’s gaze boring through her, fixed on her face but not quite making eye contact. “What is it?” Kelly asked.

“You,” Natalie said with a grin of delight, a grin Kelly had seen too many times before, the grin she got when she’d stumbled onto a particularly juicy piece of gossip. “You are blushing harder than I walked in on you while you were...well, while you were trying to get some alone time.”

Kelly buried her face in her hands as Natalie asked her, “You think Jane’s hot don’t you?” When all the Ranger did was groan Natalie pumped her fist. “I knew it!”

“What am I gonna do, Nat?” Kelly asked, seeing no reason to deny Natalie’s accusations, knowing that would only make her inevitable teasing worse. 

“Well at least this means you aren’t scared of Vipers anymore right?”

“That’s the thing. I still am.” 

Natalie’s eyes widened and her smile stretched ear to ear. “Well then it looks like you’re in a bit of a...bind.” 

Kelly punched Natalie in the arm, not with her full strength but still hard enough to hurt.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kelly sluggishly pushed the peas around her tray, she didn’t have much of an appetite during lunch. Her nerves saw to that. 

“So,” Natalie said between bites of chicken. She would’ve said more but Kelly cut her off with a glare. 

“Bring this up in the mess hall, or when there’s other people around in general and I’m going to make sure you end up fighting me next time there’s hand-to-hand sparring. I know that if I brought up how bad you are at it with one of the officers you’d be stuck doing more melee training.” The look in the Ranger’s eyes told Natalie she was serious. 

The two finished lunch in silence and made their way back to the room they now shared with Jane. 

“Please don’t be naked this time,” Kelly muttered, quietly enough that nobody but Natalie, who chuckled at the remark, heard as she knocked on the door. “Are you decent?” she asked, opening the door when she heard a muffled “yes,” from within the room. 

“Sorry I didn’t meet you two for lunch,” Jane said with disturbingly wide mouthed yawn. “Not sure why but I was tired.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Natalie said as she flopped down on her bed and brought out a book. 

Jane slighered back towards her bed but stopped when a message chimed on their room’s speaker. Jane Emiko and Kelly Burchhart are to report to the GTS in fifteen minutes for training. 

“Oooh, someone’s in trouble,” Natalie said with a joking smile as the pair left. 

When Jane and Kelly arrived in the Guerilla Tactics School they saw Central standing in the middle of the room holding a plastic sword, while it was safe for sparring it was far from a toy, the plastic itself was solid and with a hard enough strike it could bruise bones. Central handed the sparring sword to Kelly and said, “Thank you for reporting in so quickly. Jane, Kelly, you’ll be training together to improve your hand to hand combat effectiveness. The practice exercise for you is rather simple but still useful. Jane, you’ll try to bind Kelly with your tail, Kelly, you’ll try to land a hit on Jane to stop her from doing so. Are there any questions?” 

“Just one,” Jane said, “Why aren’t there other Rangers here for the same training?” 

“A good question,” Central said with a frown. “Unfortunately our other rangers are currently recovering from injuries and aren’t fit for any kind of strenuous activity. Now if there’s nothing else I’ll be getting back to work, good luck in your training,” and with that, Central left the room. 

As Jane moved to the other side of the room Kelly took a few deep breaths to prepare. 

“Just let me know when you’re ready,” Jane said softly from across the room. 

“It won’t be much good for training if I’m ready for you, just go whenever you want,” Kelly said, sheathing the training sword on her back where she’d normally keep her blade.

Suddenly Jane sprang into motion and was wrapped around Kelly before the ranger even knew what happened. 

“C’mon Kelly, try to keep up,” Jane said with a grin as she released the Ranger from her coils and made her way back to her starting position. 

This time Kelly was ready and actually managed to draw her sword before Jane bound her. Slowly, Jane let Kelly go again and they went another round which again ended in Kelly not drawing her sword fast enough. On the third attempt the Ranger almost landed a hit on Jane but the Viper grabbed her wrist, ducked in under her arm and then twisted around her, holding her tight in the coils of her tail. 

Jane let Kelly go again. “You did better that time, but try not to be so tense. Staying relaxed will let you move faster when you react. Get read and I’ll show you where to try and relax.” 

 

Kelly took a fighting stance as Jane circled around her, watchful eyes scanning over her. Kelly felt Jane’s small claws lightly scrape against her upper arm through her gym shirt as the Viper gently squeezed her biceps and ran over her shoulders. 

“Here, you’re tense in your upper arms and shoulders, it’s keeping you from drawing your sword fast enough.” When Kelly relaxed her arms Jane backed off.

From their starting positions the two stared at each other. Then Jane took off, using her powerful tail to push off towards Kelly but this time she wasn’t able to bind the Ranger before she felt hard plastic hit her arm. It was Kelly’s practice sword. 

“Good job,” She said to Kelly, who was smiling, clearly pleased with herself, “But let’s go a few more rounds.” 

Kelly nodded, “Yeah, probably a good idea to make sure I can do this consistently.” 

This proved to be a good idea as the next two rounds resulted in Kelly being bound again, but after those she started to get the hang of it. Then came a trick from Jane, rather than launch herself at Kelly the Viper closed in with slow side to side movements before dropping to the floor, wrapping her tail around Kelly’s leg and pulling the Ranger to the floor, finishing it off by quickly by slithering over Kelly and planting her weight on her chest. 

Jane quickly moved off of Kelly who coughed a few times. “Good move, I didn’t see that coming at all.” 

Jane backed off a little more, quietly, almost hesitantly, asking Kelly, “Are you alright? You haven’t really said all too much and you’re really red. You’ve just got me a bit worried is all.”

Kelly turned away slightly, looking at the training room floor. “I,” she paused, taking a deep breath, “I’ve had some bad experiences with Vipers in the field ok? This whole thing has been rough.”

Now Jane turned away, looking almost ashamed. When Kelly looked back and saw this she tried to reassure her, “Don’t worry, Jane, it’s not you. It’s just hard.” Kelly sat down on a bench and took a drink out of a water bottle from the cooler. “But last time I was bound by a Viper I was being crushed to death, and with every breath I did take the poison from the cloud around me burned my lungs.”

“I’m so sorry, Kelly. I had no idea.” Jane looked back at Kelly but almost immediately turned away again. “I...I should go.” and with that she hurriedly slithered away.

As Jane left Kelly reached out. “Jane wait!” She called after her, but she was already gone. “Stupid,” Kelly muttered to herself, kicking the bench, “I bet she thinks I’m terrified of her now!”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	2. Exposure Therapy

Natalie jumped Kelly shut the door harder than she meant to. 

“What’s got you in a huff?” she asked, picking up her dropped tablet. 

“Jane thinks I’m scared of her.” Kelly practically flopped onto her mattress and buried her face in her pillow. 

“Well, are you gonna tell me what happened or are you just gonna mope around?”

“I can do both!” Kelly said almost defensively, rolling slightly onto her side. “We were training and part of that was her…” the Ranger hesitated and Natalie raised an eyebrow, “part of it was her binding me with her tail.” 

Natalie tried to suppress a smile but failed as she asked, barely loud enough to hear, “Did you like it?”

“No!” Kelly shouted. “...Well ok, fine. Yes.” 

Natalie laughed quietly and caught a pillow to the face for it. 

“I wasn’t done. She mentioned that I hadn’t said much and that I was all red and I told her about what happened. That time when I was bound and in a poison cloud.” 

Natalie’s expression fell, no longer smiling but her jaw set and her eyes serious. “Well it sounds like you should talk to her.” 

Kelly moaned in defeat, “I tried to but she ran off and I didn’t want to be aggressive...or creepy, I mean what would I say, Natalie? I used to be terrified of Vipers but now I’m better? That makes no sense and I’m actually not better, Vipers still scare the hell out of me.” 

Natalie started to ask, “Should I talk to her?” But was cut off by an aggressive “No!” from Kelly, who took a few deep breaths and said, with a forced calm, “No, I should talk to her. I just don’t know how. I think I’ll just sleep on it.” 

“Well then I’m gonna leave, you practically broadcast your dreams and I’m sorry but I don’t want to know what those end up being.” The Psychic was smiling again but quickly stopped. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t joke right now.” And with that she left, the door clicking shut behind her.

Later Kelly woke up to a knock on the door and found herself looking at Central with Jne close behind him when she opened it. Kelly heard Central talking but his voice sounded distant and muffled. 

“Is that understood?” She heard him finish saying, while she tried to make eye contact with Jane, who seemed determined to look anywhere but at Kelly, most notably, the floor. 

“I understand that Jane’s presence is distracting for you, Ranger, but try to focus. What I said was that I want you both to report to Dr. Tygan. He thinks it’s advisable that you begin exposure therapy to overcome your fear of Vipers. Now report to the lab, both of you.” 

A short walk took the two to the access lift to the lab, though Jane decided to take the stairs. When Kelly stepped into the lab she noticed it wasn’t the mess of strange equipment and machines that she’d expected, but instead had orderly countertops with nothing but microscopes, empty test tubes and the occasional spotlessly clean tool on them, and that the middle of the room was taken up by a box made of curtains hanging from the ceiling. Dr. Tygan was standing by it with Jane near bym leaning against an empty counter. 

“Ah, Captain Burchart, Now that you’re here we can begin.” Tygan opened the curtain to reveal two comfortable looking armchairs and a table between them. “Now unfortunately I’m not trained as a psychologist but in college I took enough psych courses to know the basics. All I need you two to do for today is simply be near each other, a conversation would be preferable but-” Kelly cut Dr. Tygan off. 

“Doctor, i really don’t think this is necessary,” she said while she looked over the curtained off area. 

“Please just humor me, if you feel the therapy is not working after one or two sessions we can consider other measures, however the commander has deemed it necessary, in his words, We can’t have soldiers panic when they see our own units, especially if those units are also fairly common advent troops.” He gestured to the chairs. “Now please, take a seat,” he said.

Kelly sighed and sat down, propingher feat up on the small coffee table as Jane sat in the opposite chair, sitting like human except for how her tail coiled around the chair’s legs. Then Dr. Tygan closed the curtain and Kelly had to force herself not to shrink back into her seat. Suddenly the space felt claustrophobic and Jane’s gaze seemed to go from evasively looking at the floor and curtains to looking for routes with which to flank the Ranger. 

“Doctor Tygan, I think Kelly is panicking,” Jane said, moving her seat backwards, trying to give Kelly some space. 

“That’s to be expected, please try to make yourself as non-threatening as possible and wait for her to calm down.”

“I want her not to be afraid though, this is just making her scared!” Jane almost shouted. 

“If you want her to overcome this fear you must help her face it, not avoid it. That’s the entire purpose of this therapy.” He then went silent. 

“Kelly, I’m not going to hurt you,” Jane said, finally making eye contact with the Ranger. “I can see that you’re afraid, you’ve gone tense and you’re moving away from me. When Jane said that Kelly stopped making small motions to scoot her chair further away. “Come on Kelly. Talk to me?” jane said, shrinking in on herself, looking almost as nervous as Kelly felt.

After a long silence Kelly spoke, her voice barely more than a nervous whisper, “I’m sorry, Jane. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I don’t want to be afraid of you.” 

“It’s alright,” Jane said softly. “How about you try and come a little closer?” 

Kelly planted her feet on the floor and moved her chair a little closer. As she did Jane kept absolutely still and asked, “How about a bit closer, you’re just back to where you started now.”

Kelly reluctantly moved forward, feet shuffling as she dragged her chair ever so slightly further towards Jane. 

“That’s good. Now I’m going to move closer. Just a little, and slowly.” Jane slowly moved forward but stopped when she saw Kelly flinch. “How are you feeling Kelly?” She asked softly.

“Nervous,” she said, quickly blurting out her response. 

“That’s just fine. How about you take a few deep breaths and tell me when you’re ready for me to come closer.”

Kelly almost immediately said was was ready and so Jane inched forward. This time Kelly managed to not flinch. Jane stopped and Kelly took a moment to calm down before, without warning this time, Jane scooted closer. This time, Kelly managed to keep calm, even when Jane slowly extended an arm towards her. 

“Take my hand,” Kelly heard Jane almost whisper in an almost wanting voice, “Please?” she added. 

Slowly, Kelly reached out, flinching when The Viper’s fingers twitched a little but even still the Ranger placed he hand lightly on Jane’s. 

“Is it ok if I hold your hand?” Jane asked, slowly moving her other hand towards Kelly’s. 

“It...it is,” Kelly said hesitant but keeping calm. 

With that, Jane carefully wrapped Kelly’s hand in hers and lightly stroked the back of Kelly’s hand in what she hoped was a comforting way.


	3. Interception

Kelly withdrew her hand from Jane’s, but slowly, trying to show Jane she wasn’t afraid. 

“Can I sit by you?” Jane asked, watching Kelly’s expression, frowning a little when the Ranger hesitated to answer. 

Kelly nodded though. “Sure,: She said quietly.

Jane started moving closer but stopped when she saw Kelly shiver and force herself to take deep breaths. 

“Keep going,” Kelly said with a look of determination that bordered on grim. “I know it looks bad,” she said through gritted teeth, “but I need to move past this.” 

The therapy continued in the same stop and start manner until Jane was sitting less than a foot away, asking an incredibly tense Kelly about what she did before XCom. 

“I was in college training to be an architect,” she said with a smile. “I know, hard to picture me designing buildings when I’ve been the one to plant the explosives on almost every blacksite raid right?”

“I didn't know, I still haven’t even been on a mission.” The Viper’s expression soured as she said that and Kelly laughed to herself a little. “What’s so funny?” Jane asked. 

“That I’m learning to read your expressions.” She paused and added, “Also how much you shrink when you’re annoyed,” she said with warm smile. Kelly didn’t even flinch when Jane lightly punched her arm. 

The Viper smiled when she saw Kelly not react poorly to her joking punch. 

It was then that Dr. Tygan said from outside the curtained off area the two were in, “I think that’s enough for today. I’m glad to say you’ve made considerable progress, Captain Burchart.” 

Kelly stood up and left the curtain room with Jane following close behind. “So what’s next?” Kelly asked. 

“Well tomorrow we will need to see if you’re still doing this well because tonight you’ll both be staying in your normal room, which I understand is the same room. Is this correct?” 

“That’s right.” Kelly stood there, almost standing at attention while Dr. Tygan looked over some notes on a clipboard. 

“That will be all then, the two of you are dismissed.” As soon as Tygan finished talking the ship shuddered violently. Alarms rang out all across the ship. 

Over the speakers The Commander said, “Kelly Burchart, Jane Emiko, Natalie Rose, Isingoma Kebbe and Malcolm Reeves are to gear up and report to the hangar! All hands to battlestations, we are under attack.” 

Jane and Kelly rushed to their room, put on their armor, grabbed their weapons and dashed to the hangar. 

Natalie, already there asked, “What’s going on?” 

“No idea!” Kelly half shouted over the alarms. Jane shook her head as well. 

It was then that the Commander stepped out into the hangar. He spoke just loud enough to be heard over the alarm but still managed not to yell over it. “We were hit by an EMP missile. Shen managed to keep up from crashing but we are grounded. Advent forces are closing in and they’ve deployed some sort of device to keep us from taking off. Your mission is to destroy the device and get back on board as quickly as possible. Deployment in is in ten seconds.” He left and the hangar door began to open and become a ramp. 

The second the door touched the ground Jane and Kelly led the charge out of the ship, taking cover behind a tree and a boulder respectively and looking around at the wooded plateau they’d landed on, taking in the large trees and boulders that could be used for cover and the half demolished building that could easily conceal a sniper. Natalie followed with Reeves, the squad’s grenadier and they took cover behind some more rocks and foliage while Kebbe, the squad’s sniper stayed behind a barricade on the ramp and scanned the area through his scope. 

“Advent forces sighted,” Kelly called through her mic as she and Jane advanced. The forces she saw were two Mutons and a Sectoid. Jane took a shot at the sectoid, her plasma rifle putting a scorched hole in its chest. Reeves shredded one Muton’s armor with a barrage from his mag cannon and Kebbe finished it with a headshot. Then Natalie projected a beam of psychic energy from her focus and took control of the remaining Muton. 

“I can see more hostiles,” Natalie said distractedly. “Looks like a Gatekeeper, some Vipers and a Mec.”

The enemy forces then moved for cover and better positions, the Gatekeeper floating up to hover over the roof of the building while the two Vipers advanced, flanking the Mec. Then the Gatekeeper tried to fire a beam of psionic energy at Natalie but it missed and simply scorched the boulder she’s hidden behind. Jane took a shot at the Gatekeeper as it did this but fired wide and missed. Meanwhile a Viper and the Mec focused their fire on the mind controled Muton, completely shredding it. Then from the far side of the building a squad of two Advent soldiers and their Officer took cover and opened fire at Kelly and Jane, though they were too far off to be accurate enough to land a hit. 

Kelly advanced again with Jane following close behind. Natalie took three shots at the Mec and incapacitated it while Kebbe put a sniper round right through the Gatekeeper’s eye, killing it. 

Reeves moved up again. “I’ve spotted the EMP device,” He said, and launched a grenade that destroyed it along with killing the Advent troops that had taken cover near it. 

When he destroyed the device everyone heard it, the loud whirring of Advent ship flying in to deploy troops behind the ruined building. 

Over the comms Kebbe said, “I have visual on the ship, dropping two Sectoids, some troops and a Mec.” He fired once as a Sectoid poked its head in to view. “Down to one Sectoid.”

Now that the device was destroyed the commander gave the order to perform a covering retreat, in which the two furthest forward squad members would move back to behind the second squad members who were previously in the middle, who would provide covering fire. 

Reeves and Natalie set got ready to provide overwatch for the retreating squad members but as Kelly started her retreat an enemy Viper climbed the plateau, dodged the beams of plasma aimed at it and charged for Kelly. 

When Kelly saw the Viper coming after her she drew her sword and slashed at it but the Viper moved just far enough out of the way to turn what would have been a killing blow from a plasma blade into nothing but a minor grazing wound. Kelly cried out in pain as the Viper coiled around her and tried to crush her. 

When Jane saw this happen from behind her new cover she lined up a shot fired, putting a burned hole through the Viper’s hood, but not killing it. Her shot did however, force the Viper to remove itself from Kelly, and when it did the Ranger drew her sword and cut clean accross its chest in one smooth motion, killing the Advent Viper.

Over the comms the squad heard the commander sounding the order for a full retreat now that another landing craft was coming in with more Advent reinforcements. Reeves got back to the ship’s ramp and he and Kebbe started firing at any hostile that got within range while Kelly, Jane and Natalie sprinted up the ramp. 

Now, with everyone back on board the Avenger took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Advice for writing actions scenes would be greatly appreciated. I know I'm not exactly great at it.


	4. Looking Great

During the following few days there was no training for Kelly, just physical therapy so that she could recover from the internal damage the Viper had caused her, basic things to let her regain a full range of motion and not fall too far out of shape. The doctor had told her that the worst injury she had was a few broken ribs and that she needed to take things easy for a week while the strange light blue they’d administered did its work. By the third day she was getting restless with boredom but her mood lifted when she saw Jane slither into the room carrying a package of some sort with a shirt on the top of it that looked a bit like the lining of her armor. 

 

“So I’ve got fun news and medical news,” the Viper said, setting the items down on the table, “Which do you want first, Kelly?”

“Let’s get the medical news out of the way.” 

Jane tossed the shirt to Kelly. “This is a design based on the lining of the regenerative armor. They say it’ll help you recover faster,” Jane paused for a moment, “Oh, I almost forgot, its regenerative properties are supposed to mean you can actually do more than light physical activity without making your condition worse. They also said you can’t wear anything under it, something about it interfering with the medical gel.”

“That’s great!” Kelly said as she gingerly stood up and made her way towards the door in the back of their quarters that led to a bathroom which connected to every quarters. “Tell me the other thing in a minute, I’m gonna put this on.” With that Kelly sat up and pulled her blanket over herself and started to change shirts underneath and then came back out from under it when she was finished, unaware that her motions had dislodged the cover in such a way that Jane was able to catch a fleeting glimpse of her breasts. 

“What’re you staring at?” Kelly asked when she looked back to Jane, perhaps a little more harsh sounding than she’d meant to be. “Does it look dumb? Because I think it looks kinda good.” Kelly looked over the cyan hexagon pattern of the bulky shirt. 

“No, no! You look great. I mean, It looks great...on you…”Jane awkwardly trailed off. 

“You alright?” Kelly asked as she leaned against the wall her bunk was against.

“I’m fine...it’s just a bit hot in here is all.”

“I thought Vipers were cold blooded,” Kelly said with a confused glance at Jane, who was rubbing her arm and seemed intent on avoiding making eye contact with the Ranger. 

“The scientists said that Advent made Vipers warm blooded so we could survive on earth better. The Xcom clones are warm blooded too since we’re copies of that design.” 

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings but you still seem a bit off. I’ll drop it if you want me too though.” Then Kelly smiled and said, “What I won’t drop, is what’s in that box.” 

Jane shot up, sitting upright now. “Right, that. I brought you a chess set and a sketch pad that some people were willing to give up. I know you were getting bored of card games.”

Kelly sighed with relief. “Thank you so much, Jane, thank you!” 

 

The Viper smiled when she saw how happy Kelly was. “Want to teach me how to play?” 

Over the next few hours Kelly taught Jane the basics of chess which ended in a lucky win for Jane after the first couple of games. 

“Kelly,” Jane said as they reset the pieces, “I’m sorry I’ve been so awkward but I think I should just tell you why.” The Viper took a deep breath and said, “While you were changing the covers ended up getting moved and I saw you shirtless...and braless.” 

Kelly wore an amused expression. “Is that really all it takes to get you this embarrassed?” Kelly found it far less funny when Jane looked towards the ground and started to turn away from her.

“Well no but then what I said was…” Jane trailed off.

Kelly had to suppress a grin as she remembered what Jane had said, “You said I look great.” The Ranger had the sneaking suspicion that Jane would be turning as red as a tomato if not for her scales, in fact she could feel heat creeping into her cheeks as well. Kelly leaned closer to the Viper. “Now that I know what you saw I think you meant something more by that.” The Ranger watched Jane’s reaction carefully and when she shrank just a little she said, “I think you look great too though.” Kelly could see the nervous smile forming on Jane’s face as she leaned back. 

“Do you?” Came another murmur from the Viper. 

Under the table Kelly ran a bare foot down Jane’s tail. “I do.”

Jane gasped at the contact and simply said under her breath, “Oh.”

“So,” Kelly whispered, leaning in again, “I’m going to take a shower, and then how about we go get a drink?”

“I think I’d like that.” Jane said, finally looking back up from the floor and making eye contact with Kelly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's not much but i haven't had time to write lately and wanted to upload something for those who like this story.


	5. Angry About the Roster

Kelly was waiting in the bar for Jane when she heard the speaker system come on and announce the team composition for a mission. 

“Malcolm Reeves, Isingoma Kebbe, Mohamed Aziz, Jane Emiko and Valeria Lopez report to the hangar for the next mission.”

Kelly scowled deeply when she heard Jane's name in the list. “Of fucking course,” she muttered angrily after downing the last of the drink she was holding. The ranger slammed her glass back on the bar and hurriedly stormed off back to the barracks, hoping she would at least see Jane in the way out. 

Kelly didn’t see Jane on the way out. When she got to the room she shared with Jane and Natalie she was greeted by Natalie asking her, “Angry about the mission roster?” 

 

“Yes I’m angry about the roster!” Kelly kicked her bedframe hard enough that it hit the wall with a satisfying clang. “I was just about to have a drink with her and then all of a sudden she gets put on a mission.” 

“So you were gonna get a drink with her? Does she know how you feel yet or was this a friendly drink?” 

Kelly huffed angrily at the psychic’s question. “It was...implied.”

Natalie laughed, “Details damnit, I demand details!” she joked. 

Jane told Natalie what had happened earlier while she’d been away training and felt her spirits lift just a little when she got a laugh out of Natalie’s shocked expression. 

“You should see your face right now,” she said as she poured drinks for both of them out of a jug of water. 

“But how did you not realize you’d flashed her?” 

Kelly sighed. “Well I knew the cover had shifted I just didn’t realize by how much because the shirt was over my head.”

Natalie just laughed. “Well let me know when Jane gets back and I’ll leave the room to the two of you.”

“Nat, we aren’t gonna bang the second she gets back from her mission.” When Natalie rolled her eyes with a grin Kelly gave a resigned sigh. “Anyway I think I’m going to have a run in the gym.” 

“Don’t tire yourself out too much, Jane won’t appreciate it if you’re already exhausted when she gets back.” 

Kelly sighed again, deciding not to acknowledge Natalie’s comment, and left for the gym that the crew had set up in the GTS, hoping that Jane would get back soon. 

When she got to the gym the Ranger hopped on the treadmill and ran for as long as she could stand to. She scowled when the running did nothing to take her mind off of things like it usually did and kept running until her still recovering ribs started to ache. When the pain set in she climbed off the treadmill and went to take another shower. 

As she walked through the barracks Kelly was thankful that Natalie seemed to be away on more psychic training. She grabbed a change of clothes and the medical shirt, she’d taken it off before running, not sure if the odd device could be washed, and headed for the showers. Once she’d taken a stall and the water heated up enough she the Ranger started to wash away the sweat from her run and found her thoughts drifting to Jane, hoping she was alright on her mission, wishing she hadn’t been called away, that she was still with Kelly so they could have that drink, wishing that Jane was with her right then. 

Kelly realized a familiar heat was blossoming between her legs as she imagined that the hands running over her weren’t hers but Jane’s. As she leaned back against the wall of the shower stall she closed her eyes and imagined that it was Jane who was running her hand down her toned stomach and caressing her thighs and sliding into her. Kelly sighed as she imagined it was a scaled hands squeezing her breast and pleasuring her most sensitive areas until she was groaning softly with all her muscles tensing, her toes curling against the shower floor. 

After a few moments of rest the Ranger started to rinse herself off. The thoughts of Jane still lingered in her mind but the erotic aspect of them faded. Kelly just hoped nobody had been around to hear her. 

Kelly finished her shower and got dressed, deciding in the process that she may as well wait near the hangar for Jane’s return. She figured it couldn’t be too long before she got back. 

As it turned out she was right. It took less than half an hour for her to hear the hangar door opening and the Skyranger being brought inside. When the door to the hangar unlocked Kelly ducked in as quickly as she could to be greeted by a grave sight. The team that had been sent away was staggering and limping out of the transport and medical staff were rushing about. 

The Ranger stood there in shock but was a blur of motion when she saw Jane. The Viper was slowly descending the ramp, one of her arms hanging limply at her side. As she slithered into the hangar bay Jane almost lost her balance, which was when Kelly and a medic rushed over to support her. Kelly got there first and propped Jane up on her shoulder. 

Jane’s face lit up as she realized who was supporting her, her almost lips curling into a delirious smile. “So you were waiting for me huh?” Was all Jane managed to say before her eyes drifted shut and she fell into unconsciousness. 

The medic tapped Kelly on the shoulder and said, “Help me get her on the cart.” and once the two had gently set jane on the gurney he said, “Cart’s to short hold her tail while we move her.”

Kelly did as she was told and held Jane’s tail as they rushed her to the infirmary. Now that she got a better look at the Viper Kelly could make out three separate burns from plasma weapons fire had hit her and a few less serious ones that she must have managed to partially dodge. 

Then, before she knew it, the medic was telling Kelly to help get Jane on the bed. She lifted her tail again and shrank back into the corner and out of the way as the medic called out things he required to other medical staff. The Ranger watched as the medical team striped Jane of her armor and applied the gel XCom had developed to help heal burns and winced as she heard a sickening crunch from what she guessed was a medic popping Jane’s arm back into its socket. 

When they moved Jane to a recovery area Kelly followed. When the medics confirmed she could stay she drew the privacy curtain and sat down in the one chair that was there.


	6. Finale

Kelly woke up in the chair she’d sat down in earlier and leaned forward, bracing herself, elbows on her knees and started to remember where she’d fallen asleep as she took in the sights and sounds. 

“She hasn’t left your side the whole time,” Kelly heard one of the medical staff say. 

The Ranger opened her eyes and looked over to Jane in her infirmary bed but didn’t say anything until the nurse had finished talking to Jane. 

“When will I be out of here?” Jane asked, glancing over to Kelly as she saw her waking up. 

The nurse looked down at a clipboard on the bed’s footboard. “You should be released by this afternoon, you got really lucky and the wounds were mostly surface level. Oh, but you won’t be put back on duty for at least three or four weeks. The issue is your injured shoulder, looks like you have a damaged muscle so that’ll take a while to fully recover from even with the new medical tech we’ve been able to develop. If that’s everything I’ll be going.”

“One more thing. When can I use the arm again?”

“That shouldn’t take too long, you should have some motion back and be out of the sling by tomorrow, then after some more regenerative treatments it’ll be back to normal. There’ll be an injection later that should speed the healing right along. Will that be all?”

Jane sat up a little, wincing as her arm shifted slightly in its sling, “That’s all, thanks doc.”

When the nurse left Jane looked back over to Kelly and asked, “We still getting that drink later? Because I’m gonna need one after that.”

The Ranger smiled, “Of course we are, we’ll head to the bar when they say you can go.”

The two sat in comfortable silence for a few moments until Kelly spoke up and said, “You know, with the curtain this almost reminds me of that exposure therapy room.”

Jane smiled, “It does bear some resemblance, but there’s one thing off.”

 

“What’s that?”

“You’re not close enough to me.” 

Kelly laughed softly and moved her chair to be right beside Jane’s bed and laid her hand by the Viper. “Is it ok if I hold your hand?” She asked, trying to make it as similar as she could to when Jane had asked her the same thing. 

Jane didn’t say anything, instead she just smiled and softly closed her hand around Kelly’s. 

“Wanna hear about the mission?” Jane asked.

“Only if you want to talk about it.”

Jane told Kelly about the mission, about the first firefight that had involved four Sectoids trying to mind control people and about the Mec that had attracted as well as the Shieldbearer and Archon that the fighting had attracted. She went on, describing how the mission couldn’t even be completed because of the Sectopod that joined in the fighting along with three Mutons. 

Before Kelly could say anything a doctor, came in carrying a tray with what looked almost like a lump of chocolate on it. 

“Jane,” the doctor said, “This is a nutrient bar that you’ll need to eat for your healing. The Regenerative treatment will need something to turn into new tissue for you so there’s this.” He set the tray on the small bedside table. He then left, excusing himself and saying he needed to attend to other patients. 

Jane shrugged to Kelly, picked up the nutrient bar and took a bite. As she tasted the bar she made a face like she was going to be sick, but forced herself to swallow the disgusting thing. 

When Kelly laughed Jane playfully scowled at her, “You knew didn’t you?” 

“Hey, I know because I’ve had to eat them too.” 

“Well I bet you couldn’t do this,” Jane said, looking at the tray. Then her tongue shot out, grabbing the rest of the bar which she forced down in one unpleasant gulp and followed that by draining a cup of water that had also been on the tray. 

When Kelly didn’t say anything Jane laughed softly and asked, “Why so quiet, thinking about other things you’d like to see that tongue do?” 

Kelly had indeed been thinking about what she’d like to see Jane do with her tongue. The Ranger leaned closer to Jane. “Maybe I am,” she said in a low, breathy whisper. 

It was then that the doctor came back in and the two went silent. “Alright Jane, I just need to give you a shot and then you’re free to go.”

The doctor uncapped the needle and approached Jane who asked, “What’s in it anyway?” as the needle pierced the skin between her scales. 

“Mostly some amped up stem cells and a compound the keep your body from rejecting them.” Drawing the needle out of the Viper’s shoulder after he’d finished the injection. “It also contains a mild sedative because you’ll want to sleep off the first few hours.” He then put a bottle of pills that he’d had in his pocket on the bedside table. “These are painkillers, take a few now and then one every morning, it’ll keep the pain from the regenerative treatment at bay, worst you’ll get is some feeling really sore, which is normal. Anyway you’re free to go now. Don’t do any lifting above fifteen pounds for the next two days and just generally try not to stress your shoulder, other than that though you’ll be able to resume physical activity.” With that the doctor left. 

With Kelly’s help, Jane slid out of bed and stood. She probably didn’t need the help seeing as the doctor had released her but Jane didn’t object when she realized that it meant she’d be walking back with Kelly right up against her. The two made their way back to the room they shared with Natalie at a leisurely pace and got settled in when they got there. Kelly helped Jane into her bed, saying, “If you need anything or even just want something just let me know. I’ll just be here reading.” 

Jane smiled to herself and nodded. “Thank you, Kelly.” Then she yawned and layed down, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep while Kelly leaned back against the wall in the bunk next to hers and read. 

When Jane started to wake up the first thing she noticed was the pain in her shoulder. 

“Hey, Kelly?” She groaned, “Can you get me some water and painkillers?”

“Sure,” She heard Kelly say. The Ranger got up and got a cup and the pill bottle from the table. 

“How long was I out?” Jane asked when she’d finished taking the painkillers, hoping they’d stop the soreness in her shoulder from getting worse. 

“Not too long, only a few hours.”

“Ah, ok then.” The Viper leaned back against the wall her bed was against. “Hey Kelly, the Doc didn’t say anything about no alcohol right? How about we finally get that drink?” 

“Honestly, I’d rather just be here alone with you, I’ve been wanting to talk about something for a while now,” Kelly said, her voice just a little shaky, like she was shivering ever so slightly.

“Oh?” Jane could sense the nervousness in Kelly’s voice. “What about?” she asked with a small smile, having a sense of what Kelly wanted to ask about. 

“Well, you were being all flirty earlier so…” Kelly trailed off. 

“So? Where’s this going?” Jane prompted as she slid her tail over towards Kelly. 

“Well it’s just,” When the Ranger started to speak again she gently ran her tail along Kelly’s calf and slowly up her thigh, just above her knee. Kelly trailed off again when she felt Jane’s tail on her leg but as she felt the tip of it circle and then slide back down her leg she forced herself to keep talking and push through her nervousness. “You were being really flirty earlier and you’re keeping it up now.” She paused to collect herself and after a moment asked, “Jane, do you want me?” 

Jane let out a hissing sigh and slithered closer to Kelly, crossing the gap where the two beds met at the ends and pressing herself against the Ranger. “Kelly, I don’t think I could have made it any more obvious that I do without outright saying it.” 

 

“Say it then,” Kelly said quietly, rising from her sit to stand on her knees and press herself against Jane. 

Jane leaned in and whispered right in to Kelly’s ear, “I want you, Kelly. I want you so much.”

Kelly ran a hand along the edge of Jane’s snakelike hood and gently pulled her closer, loving how Jane shivered ever so slightly at the touch to her neck, and softly pressed her lips to Jane’s. Jane pressed her whole upper body into Kelly and deepened the kiss as she slowly wrapped her tail around Kelly. With that any thoughts Kelly had about moving too fast went out the window.

Kelly broke the kiss. “We need privacy,” she panted. 

“I don’t see Natalie anywhere,” Jane said with a sly grin. 

“No but she could be back any time. Now quick, help me set up a blanket curtain. 

A blanket curtain, as it turned out, was tucking the sheets from one bunk under the mattress of the one above it to form a curtain around the lower bed. Kelly’s hastily assembled curtain now in place, the two ducked under it and onto Jane’s bed. 

Kelly reached down to take her shirt off. “Now how about this time I show you on purpose,” She said, pulling the shirt over her head and tossing it to the side and facing Jane.

“Aw, I hoped I’d be taking that off you,” she playfully said, hesitantly feeling Kelly’s breasts, tracing her hands in caressing circles over them before leaning in to kiss Kelly again. 

“There’s still other parts of my clothes you can take off,” she said, breaking their kiss only to resume it as she felt Jane’s fingers dip below the waistband of her sweatpants and pull them down agonizingly slowly. 

The Ranger reached down and started to skip Jane’s shirt off as she felt scaled fingers slide between her legs and a rubbing against her dampening folds. 

Kelly moaned as Jane teased her, her scaled fingers almost pushing into her and then pulling away just before they did. 

When Jane pulled her fingers away Kelly finished pulling her shirt off. 

“So you do have nipples,” Kelly said under her breath.

“Is that really something you wondered about?” Jane asked, and when all Kelly did was nod she said, “How about you feel for yourself then?” 

When Kelly started to reach up Jane grabbed the Ranger’s wrists and pushed them down, pinning them to her thighs. Kelly took the hint and leaned down to kiss the dark pink bud before softly biting it. When that got a pleased sigh from the Viper, Kelly sucked at her other breast and then started to leave a slow trail of kisses down Jane’s stomach, pushing her into laying down as she did. Now the Ranger straddled Jane’s tail and slid down until her lips found Jane’s slit. Jane ran her fingers through Kelly’s hair and lightly pulled her closer. As soon as the Ranger felt that she pushed her tongue into Jane’s entrance, loving how her actions made the Viper moan the way she did. 

Kelly kept licking, giving Jane the stimulation she’d been craving ever since finding out that the Ranger was attracted to her. She savored the feeling of the Viper’s tail wrapping around her waist, loving how Jane would flick just the tip of it over her clit. 

Kelly felt her tongue getting sore but when Jane started tensing up and her sighs and moans great louder she slipped her hands out from the coils of Jane’s tail and grabbed what Kelly guessed would have been her backside, pulling Jane into her as the Viper curler her neck downward and ever so gently bit the Ranger’s shoulder, lightly pocking and scraping her with her fangs but never quite breaking the skin. Jane folded her fangs back when she felt herself approaching her finish, not wanting to really bite Kelly if she lost some control. Then she was pushed to the edge and with a final thrust of Kelly’s tongue she fell delightfully over it, her whole body tensing with pleasure.

The Viper layed there, panting as Kelly rolled off her to the side and crawled up to be face to face with Jane and kissed her again. 

When they separated the Viper smiled and started the kiss again. This time however, she ran her fingers over Kelly’s entrance, and with two of them she pushed into her and then stopped the kiss to suck at the Ranger’s breasts. Then Jane pulled her fingers away and making a show of sucking them before sliding her head between Kelly’s thighs. 

Jane savored every moment, the way Kelly moaned, the way her folds parted for her long, snake like tongue and most of all, the fact that it was Kelly that she was with, the woman she’d saved, who’d been the first person she saw when she woke up in the infirmary. 

Kelly firmly grabbed Jane’s hood and held her in place as she felt the Viper’s tongue move within her, as she felt Jane’s desire to please her and while she held off for as long as she could it took Jane no time at all to bring her crashing down into an ocean of pleasure. 

Kelly let go of Jane and she slithered back up to rest her head on the Ranger’s chest. The two drifted off to sleep together. 

Later the two woke up to Natalie bursting into the room. 

“Both of you up!” She shouted happily, “We’ve won! A team ran a secret mission and because of it we’ve won!” 

Kelly rolled out from under the blanket curtain, forgetting that she was naked. “Wuh?” she groaned blearily. 

Jane poked her head out. “We did?” She asked, equally confused and tired.

Natalie froze and when she recovered she turned around and started to walk out of the room. “You know what, it looks like you two could use some time. There’s a party happening in the bar when you’re ready.”

Kelly wasn’t quite certain but it sounded like Natalie was smiling.

The pair dressed and washed up, deciding to see what was happening with the party Natalie had mentioned. When they arrived in the bar, each walking with their arm around the other’s waist, they opened the door to find everyone on the ship packed into the small bar that had been installed drinking, talking and generally basking in the relief that came with their almost year long guerilla war being over. 

Jane leaned closer to Kelly. “I’m going to find us a place to sit, do you mind getting drinks?” 

“Sure, what’ll you have?”

“Rum and coke,” Jane said, before pecking Kelly on the cheek and slithering off to find a seat, a definite sway to her ‘hips’. 

“So you two finally did it huh?” Kelly heard Natalie ask as she approached the bar. 

The Ranger ordered drinks for herself and Jane and collected herself. “I’d think that was obvious.”

Natalie just smiled. “I’m happy for you two. Just thought I should say that. No jokes, I’m not making fun or anything.” 

“Are you-” 

“No, I’m not drunk. Not yet anyway. I just wanted to say that.”

The bartender turned around with Kelly and Jane’s drinks in hand. 

Kelly picked up the drinks and almost turned to leave but stopped. “Thanks Nat, I appreciate it.” And with that, she left to find Jane.

When Kelly found Jane she was sitting on a couch in the corner, her tail taking up all the seats, watching the party unfold. 

Kelly sat down with her when she moved her tail, though the Viper put her tail right back, just across Kelly’s legs this time. 

“Kelly,” she asked as she took her drink, “What should we do now?” 

Kelly thought for a moment and just said, “I don’t really have an answer to that, all I know for sure is that I want it to be something with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it, the end to Love's Coils. I hope you all enjoyed reading it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, the chapter before this was supposed to be the last one but a friend commissioned another chapter.

Around a year later Kelly was stepping out of a condemned building and taking off her safety equipment in the tiny trailer office she had set up at her worksite. When she'd changed back into regular clothes she headed out and made her way along the streets, towards a coffee shop. When she did arrive she saw Natalie wave at her from the table she'd taken. Kelly also noticed that it was as far from the window and as close to a support pillar that could be used for cover as was possible. 

Natalie frowned when she saw Kelly's appraising look as if to say, “Just ignore it and get your drink.”

Kelly approached that counter and ordered a small mocha and a chocolate chip cookie from an alien that resembled a pink, floating, four armed, spherical octopus with an apron dropped over it so that the straps framed it's one eye. The Gatekeeper used its tentacles to punch her order into the tablet that was set up as a register.

“That will be four twenty-five,” it said in a modulated voice that came from its translation device. 

Kelly swiped her card and took a seat with her order a minute later.

“So, how'd the building investigation go today?” the psychic asked. 

“Mostly fine, the supports are all still in tact so all that needs to be done is to clear out all the Advent crap. The crew starts that bit tomorrow. How was the testing?”

“Nothing here but apparently im considered a psychic expert so they're flying me out to Japan this weekend to give a talk about the safe way to collect psychic materials for containment.” 

“You sound surprised.”

“I am surprised,” Natalie said, “I'm no expert, just some random Xcom psychic.” 

“Yeah, that means you know about as much as half the Gatekeepers that the collection team hires and you don't have to overcome prejudice before people listen to you.” 

Natalie nodded quietly, glancing at the Gatekeeper behind the counter. Kelly looked too; then back to Natalie, who's glance was turning into more of a stare. 

“Natalie, they're not gonna hurt you,” she said in why she hoped was a reassuring voice. 

“Oh I know he wouldn't,” Natalie said in a half whisper.

Kelly blinked in surprise. “What?”

“Oh, right I didn't tell you. That's Ji’ar, we're going out. Actually going out again tonight after his shift ends.” 

“Oh, so how long have you two been dating?” 

“A few weeks actually, we met when my division brought him on a a consultant and we hit it off.”

Kelly looked back at Ji’ar for a moment. “So have you two…”

Natalie cut Kelly off before she could finish her question. “Yes and I won't be discussing it.” 

“Jeez, you act like I'll get all judgemental. If anything I'd judge you for dating a barista.” 

“Hey! It's not like this is a long term thing for him. He's being hired by my division for a permanent position next week.” 

“So why are they hiring him?”

“He knows more than a lot of other psychics and actually wants to help as opposed to most of them, where this job is their only option. I know you see some out an about but places still aren't big on hiring non-human.” 

“I know, Jane's been having trouble finding a job outside of Xcom relief efforts.” Kelly's expression fell, she'd seen Jane come home day after day, disappointed at how she'd been very politely shown the door when whatever manager she'd been meeting with realized she was a Viper. 

“Would those relief efforts be so bad as a job?” 

“She doesn't want to get sent somewhere else for work and she doesn't want me to hire her because she thinks it's a good idea to work separate jobs, not that I disagree with that.” Kelly frowned and took a bite of the cookie she'd ordered. “It’s just hard seeing her so down all the time.”

“What if she came and worked with the collection team?” Natalie asked casually. 

“Don’t you need to be psychic for that?”

“I should’ve specified,” Natalie explained, “I meant the technology side of it. There’s loads of sites around the city that are still being dismantled. What she knows from Xcom could come in handy or she could just be security.”

Kelly thought it over and then pulled out her phone. “I’ll let her know about the possibility,” she said as she entered a reminder into it. 

“I’m sure she would fit in there. They’ve been hiring a lot of ex Advent.”

The two talked for a while longer, maybe half an hour, before Kelly checked her phone, which had gone off. “Well,” she said, “I actually need to go or I'll be late.” 

“Where are you going?” Natalie asked, with what Kelly thought was a look of interest. 

“To pick up a cake for my anniversary celebration with Jane, the bakery says it’s ready. Thanks for coming out to kill some time with me though,” she said as the stood up. 

“See ya later.” Natalie said as Kelly finished her coffee, wrapped the cookie in some napkins, and stood to leave. 

“See ya,” Said a now smiling Kelly.

When Kelly left she made a quick stop at the bakery to pick up her cake and then walked to her apartment. She passed the entrance to the kitchen and left the cake on the counter as she walked into the living room. 

To her surprise Jane wasn’t there reading or watching TV, there was instead, a trail of lavender flowers leading down the hall to the bedroom. 

When Kelly reached the bedroom she found a note on the door that read, “Knock once you’re changed and washed up. Your outfit’s in the spare room. -Jane” 

Kelly smiled to herself as she imagined what Jane might have prepared. When she found a set of deep blue lingerie laid out on the bed in the guest room she laughed softly to herself and started stripping down as fast as she could. Then she took the underwear to the bathroom with her and hurriedly washed, taking a fast shower and then drying off before changing. After what Kelly thought was far too long she walked towards the bedroom and knocked on the door. 

“Come in,” she heard Jane say quietly from inside the room. 

When Kelly opened the door and in the dim light she saw that the blackout curtains had been drawn shut and a candle had been lit on both her and Jane’s nightstand on either side of the bed.Jane was waiting for Kelly, standing in front of the bed wearing nothing but a red bra and a crisscrossing lattice of ribbons that went from her waist and down her tail. 

Kelly closed the door, not taking her eyes off the Viper and in an instant Jane shot across the few feet between her and the and Kelly, wrapping her tail around her and positioning herself so she could whisper into Kelly’s ear. 

“I know how much you like me binding you,” she said, “So tonight I’m going to take you and I’m going to hold you in my coils until the only thing you can feel is me holding you and my tongue inside you.” Jane applied more pressure to Kelly’s thighs and pressed them together just enough to be borderline uncomfortable. 

Kelly shivered as she felt Jane’s scales sliding along her skin, gasped as she felt a forked tongue caressing her earlobe, and then stumbled forward as she felt Jane loosen her coils and pull Kelly towards the bed, where the two fell onto the soft mattress. 

Kelly felt Jane reach for her bra and undo the knot in the back. 

“Why’d you have me wear it if you were just going to take it off?” she playfully asked. 

Jane guided Kelly’s hands to her own lacy underwear. “Because it’s so much more fun to unwrap a present than just get one. Wouldn’t you agree?” 

Kelly answered Jane with a passionate kiss and undid the hooks holding on what Jane was wearing and slid it off her as Jane pulled Kelly’s underwear down and out of the way. 

Kelly tried to roll on top of Jane but as soon as she started to move she felt the Viper wrap around her, her tail forcing her arms to her sides. Jane now 'knelt’ above Kelly, swaying tantalizingly over her. Then Jane ducked down, out of sight to Kelly, who couldn't see over the tail binding her. Kelly felt the scales of Jane's hood brush against her thighs and her long long tongue beginning to lick her. When Kelly tried to move even the slightest bit Jane's tail constricted around her, leaving her feeling helpless as she felt Jane teasing her with quick swipes of her forked tongue that were so close but so far from giving her the pleasure she craved. As much as Kelly tried moving her legs and thrusting her hips she couldn’t get Jane to actually push that wonderful tongue of hers inside her.

Jane said nothing, but tightened her hold on Kelly and pushed her legs apart with her lean but toned arms. She went so far as to run her tongue over Kelly’s entrance, nearly pushing it in but then stopping just as she was about to enter. Then, all of a sudden, just after Jane grazed her inner thigh with her fangs, she pushed her tongue into Kelly, drawing out a gasp, and when she pushed her long tongue further, a moan. As Jane licked at her Kelly drank in the feeling of being so tightly held and the feeling of Jane’s smooth, warm scales sliding against her whenever her lover’s actions made her shiver with pleasure. And then, Kelly was pushed over the edge, she tossed her head back in ecstasy, moaning Jane’s name.

Jane slowed her motions and gradually came to a stop. She moved back to ‘kneel’ over a now panting Kelly and asked, “You didn’t think that would be all did you?” before dipping back down between her partner’s spread legs and thrusting her tongue into her again. 

As they carried on like this, Kelly started to feel a wetness against her chest. She looked up to see Jane’s ‘hips’ were over her chest and an idea came to her mind. Kelly craned her neck forward, trying to ready her lover’s tail but was driven to another toe curling peak of pleasure. 

This time Jane didn’t even stop, though she did slow down to let Kelly recover, but only a little. Now Kelly tried to act on her idea again and this time succeeded. She leaned her head forward just far enough that she could kiss Jane’s tail. When the Viper felt this she stopped altogether. 

“C’mon, I know you want to make me feel good but you already are. Let me return the favor. Please?” 

Jane relented and rolled over so that Kelly’s face was over her scaled opening and tucked her head back between Kelly’s thighs. Jane didn’t get very far however as Kelly’s nimble tongue almost immediately made her moan into Kelly’s thigh. 

And the two kept eachother like that well into the evening, Kelly bound and Jane, the one holding her.

Later, when the two were exhausted and lying there together, Jane still curled around Kelly, but loosely now, Kelly murmured to Jane, “I love you,” as she drifted off to sleep. 

“I love you too,” Jane whispered back, pulling Kelly closer, spooning her as she slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the chapter before this was supposed to be the last one but a friend commissioned another chapter. That said this will be done for good now so that I can move on to other projects.


End file.
